Glendale — Having won the Division 1 state championship the last seven years, Milwaukee Marquette has had its share of victories over Homestead.

"I would say the majority of the time they come out the winner," Highlanders coach Jackie Egelhoff said. "But we always look forward to that challenge, for sure."

Homestead defeated Marquette, 5-2, Saturday to win the championship of the two-day Nicolet Tournament. The Highlanders, who also beat Middleton, Brookfield Central and Oconomowoc in the tourney, are ranked third in the state by the coaches association.

The second-ranked Hilltoppers were missing three players, however.

"That's definitely not why we lost," Marquette coach David Frank said. "Homestead played very, very well and is a very good team."

In any case, Homestead will savor the victory.

"We've been losing to Marquette so much throughout my whole high school career, it feels really good to beat them," Homestead's Daniel Wichman said.

Wichman's 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Caleb Schifano at No. 4 singles gave the Highlanders a 4-2 lead and clinched the title.

"The first set I was just getting really mad at myself," Wichman said. "I couldn't control my anger. I was just missing a lot of easy shots. The second set I calmed down and started making the shots I was missing."

All seven flights started at the same time, and Homestead took a 1-0 lead after Danny Coran beat Alex Rokosz, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 1 singles.

"Alex is a good player, but I was just steadier and more consistent hitting them deep," Coran said. "I was controlling a lot of the points."

Marquette's John Massart beat Aaron Rempel at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2, and its No. 2 doubles team of Robby Balistreri and Nick Kallman got past Jason Jesse and Patrick Findling, 6-4, 6-2, to give the Hilltoppers their only lead at 2-1.

Homestead tied the score at 2-2 after Will Kammerait and Chase Gabriel used a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Austin Budiano and David Sinense at No. 1 doubles. The Highlanders said the key was aggressive net play.

"Because those guys aren't going to miss ground serves," Gabriel said. "So we just had to get to the net and close out."

A loss by Homestead would have given Marquette a 3-1 lead.

"We weren't thinking about that when we were playing," Gabriel said. "If we focus on everyone's match, it's going to be tough. We just focus on our match, pulled out the win and knew we had a better chance of pulling out the victory over Marquette. We haven't beat them in awhile."

It was also the first time Kammerait and Gabriel were playing as doubles partners.

"A lot of times it can be hard, but we didn't have a lot of communication errors," Kammerait said. "That's the biggest thing when you play with a new person."

Homestead then took a 3-2 lead thanks to a 6-2, 6-4 victory from Tucker Gabriel and Aaron Holmen against Nick Olson and Reagan May at No. 3 doubles.

Not only do Homestead and Marquette meet for a non-conference dual on Monday, the two teams could face each other again next weekend in Manitowoc.

"I think our doubles need to play a little bit better," Frank said. "I'm happy with how our team played this whole tournament, but Homestead definitely played better than us in the final round. We need to come ready to play Monday."

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